COUNCILLORS WARNED RURAL COMMUNITIES WILL REMEMBER DECISION

PEMBROKESHIRE councillors have voted to close Ysgol Clydau following an emotional debate over the future of rural education and Welsh-language provision in the county.

The recommendation was carried by 32 votes to 21, with one abstention.

The decision followed strong appeals from several councillors, who warned that closing the school would damage village life, weaken rural communities and risk pushing some families towards home schooling.

Cllr Iwan Ward, the local member, opened the debate by urging councillors to reject the proposal.

He questioned whether the views of local people had genuinely been listened to during the consultation process.

“If the overwhelming concerns of local people have not been listened to, then what was the point of it?” he said.

“This was not a box-ticking exercise. It was a chance to listen.”

Cllr Ward said the people of Clydau had spoken “passionately and clearly” about the importance of the school.

“The school is not just a building,” he said. “It is the heart of the community, where families come together and where the Welsh language is passed on to future generations.”

He warned that closure would affect the viability of young families living in the area and said alternatives, including federation and other collaborative arrangements, had not been properly explored.

“As councillors, we have a responsibility not just to look at budgets, but at the people behind them,” he said.

Cllr Ward added that “local democracy does not end when this meeting closes,” warning that people would remember “who stood up for their communities and who chose to protect the heart of rural Pembrokeshire.”

He said the decision would affect communities “long after we have ended our terms, long after we leave this chamber.”

“Today, we have the opportunity to send a message that rural communities matter, Welsh education matters, and local people matter,” he said.

Rural schools ‘lost forever’

Cllr Anji Tinley also spoke against the recommendation, claiming there had been a wider policy of “starving” rural schools in order to support larger ones.

She warned that once rural schools closed, they were “lost forever”.

Cllr Tinley said she had “never known any other school” bring forward so many options publicly in an attempt to avoid closure.

She told councillors: “When are we going to wake up and listen?”

She said the issue was not simply about pupil numbers or finance.

“Children are more than a spreadsheet number on a desktop,” she said.

Her comments were met with applause from the public gallery.

Welsh language concerns

Cllr Huw Murphy, speaking in Welsh, reminded councillors that he had already made his position clear during a previous council meeting.

“Back in March, I said I would not support closing a school where the Welsh language is strong,” he said.

Referring to the upcoming National Eisteddfod in Pembrokeshire, Cllr Murphy added: “The National Eisteddfod is being held here soon, and I cannot support closing a school that can be seen from the Maes.”

He argued that pupil numbers alone should not determine whether a school remained open.

“Numbers are not the only reason for closing a school,” he said. “If that were true, we could close many schools.”

Cllr Murphy also rejected cost as a justification, saying it was inevitable that providing education in rural communities would cost more than in urban areas.

He pointed to Welsh Government ambitions to reach one million Welsh speakers by 2050, questioning whether any future administration would abandon that aim.

In an emotional intervention, he referenced the Manic Street Preachers song If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next.

“If we close this school, more will follow,” he warned.

‘Duty beyond politics’

Speaking in favour of closure, Cllr John Davies said the issue was not confined to Pembrokeshire, pointing to councils across Wales also considering school closures.

He said Conwy, Gwynedd, Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion were all facing similar pressures.

“Forget the parties in administration,” he said. “We have a duty beyond politics to all children in the county.”

Cllr Davies said there were around 2,000 fewer children in Pembrokeshire than a decade ago, and described the proposed closure of Ysgol Clydau as “extremely sad”.

He said the school itself had been created by combining two other schools, and recalled that when an extension was built there were 71 pupils on roll.

Cllr Davies said the decline reflected wider changes in rural life, including depopulation and changes in farming, with fewer but larger farms.

He added that the council had also closed schools in towns, and said members had a responsibility to all children in Pembrokeshire.

Recalling his own experience, he said he had been a pupil at Eglwyswrw when it closed in 1972, moving from a school of around 30 pupils to one with about 90.

He described that experience as positive and said this was what the council would seek to offer affected pupils.

Cllr Davies said only 14 pupils came from the school’s catchment area, adding that some parents had already “voted with their feet”.

“It is not councils that close schools,” he said. “It is parents who vote with their feet. There is some truth in that saying.”

He concluded by saying that, after 27 years on the council, he would “sadly” vote for closure because he did not believe the school was sustainable in the 21st century.

‘Soul of a community’

Cllr Phil Kidney said he could not support the recommendation, warning that some children would struggle if moved into larger schools.

He asked: “Are we setting these kids up to fail? Are we forcing parents down the home-schooling route?”

Cllr Kidney said he would be voting against the proposal.

Referring to a previous school closure in Penally, he said the local vicar had told him that when the school shut, children stopped playing in the village.

“It rips the soul out of a community,” he said.

Cllr Bethan Price praised the school’s social media campaign and said it had helped highlight the strength of local feeling.

She told the meeting: “We need to keep the Welsh language going.”

Cllr Price said she was there to support both the school and the Welsh language.

Her comments were also met with applause from the public gallery.

Support for closure

Cllr Paul Miller spoke in favour of the closure proposal, saying alternative Welsh-language provision remained available to families in the area.

He told members: “Alternative Welsh language provision is available.”

Cllr Miller added that he believed closure was in the best long-term interests of children living within the catchment area.

“I believe that closing the school is in the best long-term interests of pupils in that catchment,” he said.

Home schooling warning

Cllr Ward later responded by saying travel times were not the only issue, warning that many parents were now considering home schooling.

He said he had spoken to parents and believed as many as 50% of children could be home schooled if the closure went ahead.

Cllr Ward said: “I am not a fan of home schooling. It is not right. They need a school background and they need to be in school with other children.”

He warned the closure would have far-reaching consequences beyond the school itself.

“This will be devastating for Pembrokeshire and our local communities,” he said.

Several councillors warned the decision would be remembered by rural communities and could have political consequences at future elections.

Despite the objections, councillors voted 32 in favour of the recommendation, 21 against, with one abstention.

The recommendation was therefore carried.

Reaction

Following the decision of Pembrokeshire County Council to close Ysgol Clydau, Bethan Williams on behalf of Cymdeithas yr Iaith said: “One of the councillors said that closing rural schools is a symptom of the wider problem of depopulation. It is true that the decline in pupil numbers is a symptom, and one that is common to several counties, but rather than addressing the wider problem, the council decided to close the school today.

“Similarly, maintaining and developing rural schools is not the only solution to this, but it is a fundamental part of the solution. There are plans to build more affordable housing in the village of Tegryn, but what is the point of those houses without schools for children?

“There is an opportunity for the new government to give new hope to our Welsh-speaking rural communities, and we will be pressing them to make use of that opportunity.”

Questions remain over insurance, rebuilding costs and possible legal action by Diocese

PEMBROKESHIRE councillors have voted to press ahead with the statutory process which could lead to the closure of Manorbier Church in Wales VC School, despite warnings of possible legal action, strong community opposition and unresolved questions over the cost of rebuilding the fire-damaged school.

At a full council meeting on Monday (Jun 15), members voted by 30 votes to 23, with four abstentions, to continue with the proposal to discontinue the school.

The decision does not mean the school will close immediately. It allows Pembrokeshire County Council to move to the next stage by publishing a statutory notice. That will trigger a formal objection period before the matter returns for a final decision.

However, the vote followed a lengthy and tense debate in which councillors questioned whether they had been given enough information about the legal, financial and practical consequences of closure.

Legal threat

The school has been operating from Jameston Community Hall since a major fire damaged the original Manorbier school building in October 2022.

In recent days, the St Davids Diocesan Board of Finance, which owns the freehold of the school site, has stepped up its opposition to the closure plan.

Solicitors acting for the Diocese have warned the council that the process is, in their view, procedurally flawed. They have also placed the authority on notice that legal action, including judicial review, may follow if the proposal is ratified.

The Diocese argues that the school should be fully reinstated rather than closed, and says the council cannot simply return a damaged building and walk away.

It has also raised questions about whether insurance money from the fire should be used to restore the site, and whether the council has met its legal duties in relation to maintaining the school premises.

Questions over insurance

One of the biggest unanswered questions is why the school was not insured in a way that has allowed full reinstatement after the fire.

Councillors were told during the debate that major questions remain about the cost of reinstatement, the position of insurers, and the financial liability that could fall on the council if the school is discontinued.

Cllr Huw Murphy raised concerns about how members had reached this point, questioning how the council had ended up in an ongoing dispute with the Diocese.

He also referred to confusion around cost figures, including why councillors had previously been told figures could not be disclosed, before a figure understood to be in the region of £5m entered public discussion.

Several councillors questioned whether members were being asked to make a decision without all the facts in front of them.

Community opposition

The proposal has faced overwhelming opposition locally.

A consultation report showed that 252 responses were received, with 90.48% opposing the proposal to discontinue the school.

Parents, residents and campaigners have argued that Manorbier School is more than a building, describing it as a vital community asset and a nurturing environment for young children.

Objectors say closure would damage village life, reduce the attractiveness of the area for young families and undermine the long-term sustainability of the community.

Concerns have also been raised over transport, narrow roads, parking issues and the loss of the ability for some families to walk to school.

Supporters of the school have repeatedly argued that the fire should not be used as a reason to close Manorbier, and that the proper response should be to rebuild.

Education and learner experience

The Diocese has also challenged any suggestion that the quality of education at Manorbier justifies closure.

In a letter sent to councillors before the vote, the Diocesan Director of Education, Rev’d Canon Chancellor John R Cecil, said Manorbier had received a strong Estyn report while operating from temporary accommodation at Jameston Community Hall.

He argued that the council had not given sufficient consideration to the learner experience, and said managing surplus places did not automatically mean closing schools.

The letter also warned councillors that they needed “accurate and full information” before voting, drawing comparisons with Pembrokeshire County Council’s recent High Court defeat over its Article 4 direction, where judges found councillors had been presented with flawed and incomplete information.

Councillors split

During the debate, a number of councillors voiced concern about the process.

Some questioned whether the Diocese had been properly engaged with, whether the council had fully explored rebuilding options, and whether the legal risks had been properly explained.

Others argued that the council had to make difficult decisions in the context of falling pupil numbers, surplus places in nearby schools and the condition of the Manorbier building.

Council officers have recommended proceeding with the statutory notice, saying the proposal is based on the future sustainability of education provision, the availability of school places, the condition and suitability of buildings and value for money.

But opponents warned that the financial case for closure remains unclear if the council could still face major liabilities linked to the fire-damaged building.

What happens next

The council will now move to publish a statutory notice proposing the discontinuation of Manorbier VC School.

That will open a formal objection period, after which an objection report must be prepared and brought back to councillors before a final decision is made.

The Diocese has not yet confirmed whether it will take legal action following Monday’s vote, but its solicitors have made clear that judicial review remains an option.

For parents and campaigners, the fight is not over.

The key questions now are whether the school was properly insured, what the true cost of rebuilding or closure will be, whether the council can lawfully proceed in the face of Diocese opposition, and whether councillors will ultimately be asked to make a final decision under the shadow of a potential High Court challenge.

CALLS for a new negotiating body for school support staff, and an end to term-time only pay, has been backed in the Senedd.

A motion, put forward by Labour’s education spokesperson Lynne Neagle, was supported by Senedd Members on Wednesday June 10.

Ms Neagle said support staff “build strong relationships with children and young people, which are crucial for their wellbeing, so that they can learn and reach their potential”.

Pointing to the fact support staff are now the majority of the school workforce in Wales, Ms Neagle said: “Our schools simply couldn’t function without them. They are quite simply the glue that holds our schools together.”

The Sir Fynwy Torfaen MS highlighted the extent of in-work poverty facing support staff, referencing a Unison survey of more than 1,400 school support staff showing 8% of support staff take home less than £1,000 a month.

Ms Neagle also described it as an equality issue, noting more than 90% of support staff are women.

Concluding her speech to the Siambr, Ms Neagle called on the Plaid Cymru government to commit to bringing forward new legislation and to end term-time only pay for school support staff – a pledge featured in the Labour election manifesto.

She said: “Our calls are supported by the Welsh trade union movement, including Unison Cymru and the GMB. But valuing school support staff is not just the right thing to do for the staff; it’s the right thing to do for our schools, our communities and every learner in Wales.”

Paul Rock, Green Party MS for Caerdydd Fynnon Taf MS, supported the motion, and spoke of the “tireless dedication” provided by school support staff.

Mr Rock, whose wife works as a teaching assistant, said: “I don’t need to remind members of the important work that school support staff do: one-to-one interventions to support children with additional learning needs or children who are simply falling behind.

“They work with small groups, they cover for teachers and look after whole classes at a time, they run breakfast clubs and after-school clubs, they supervise children at lunch times and play times, they work unpaid overtime daily, and the pressures of the job mean they cannot always take the breaks they are entitled to.”

Mr Rock described this as an issue of “fairness, safety, and wellbeing” and said the lack of year-round pay is “directly contributing” to the gender pay gap in Wales.

He outlined his party’s commitment to treating school support staff fairly and ensuring they are “fully represented” in discussions about their pay.

Reform’s deputy leader, Helen Jenner, said she recognised the importance of school support staff but opposed the creation of “yet another quango”.

She said: “We in Reform want to see quangos brought in-house to save taxpayers’ money and reduce the tax burden on Welsh people. We don’t want to see new ones created.

“While we have sympathy for the proposals for year-round pay for school support staff, there will, of course, be financial implications to implementing that policy and we would not like to see more money diverted from our schools.”

Sam Rowlands, the Conservative education spokesperson, also weighed in on the debate discussing the “inconsistency” built into the current system.

He said: “Pay and conditions can vary from one local authority to another quite significantly, even for staff doing very much the same roles. That means recognition and reward for their work depends too heavily on where they happen to be employed, rather than the value of what they do.”

Mr Rowlands also hit out at Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru, saying: “This is not a new problem. It’s been developed over 27 years of Labour in government here in Wales, propped up by Plaid Cymru, during which these structural issues in our education workforce were allowed to persist.”

Describing the system as “fragmented, under pressure and increasingly reliant on goodwill rather than proper structure”, Mr Rowlands said it is “not credible” for Plaid and Labour to “now present themselves as discovering these problems for the first time or to claim ownership of a solution only once they are no longer solely responsible for fixing it.”

Education minister Anna Brychan began by recognising the “value and contribution” made by support staff in schools across Wales.

She said: “Teaching assistants, administrative officers, technicians, lunch-time supervisors, caretakers – roles that have been referred to by many of the contributors this afternoon – are the backbone of our schools across Wales, and I do recognise the crucial role of school support staff in Wales and very much appreciate their contribution to our education system as a whole. They are crucial and their contribution is priceless.”

Ms Brychan however then addressed the practicality of the motion.

The minister clarified the Welsh Government currently does not have the power to set the pay, terms and conditions for support staff, noting that this responsibility lies with local authorities or schools as the employers.

She acknowledged the benefits of introducing a statutory body for Welsh support staff, as is being introduced in England, but said this “would take time to establish” and said she is “eager” to see what can be done without legislation to make a difference more swiftly in the short term.

Concluding her response, the cabinet minister said: “I look forward to working with colleagues across this chamber to support and appreciate our school support staff.

“It is clear that there is support for and an understanding of their work across the chamber, and that is something valuable that we can build upon, and to help them give the best possible experience to our learners, as they already do, but also to provide an attractive career for them as individuals and as a profession too.”

The motion was agreed with 17 in favour, 74 abstentions, and none against.